


Bucolic

by Terminallydepraved



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Gen, Goats, just chrollo living a simple life, lambs - Freeform, rural life, tags may change later on - Freeform, tenuous stardew valley au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-14
Packaged: 2018-10-17 20:13:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10601379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terminallydepraved/pseuds/Terminallydepraved
Summary: Chrollie had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb...Chrollo is the kind of person who doesn't like seeing things suffer for no reason, so when his farming neighbors find themselves with rejected lambs or orphaned goats, they turn to him to nurse them back to health.-tenuous stardew valley au, but mostly just a rural au where chrollo takes care of baby goats and lambs





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is utterly self indulgent. a thank you to endlessambiguity on tumblr for the art that made me finally write this. youre so sweet to draw that for me and i really hope you like this too!
> 
> shoutout too to my patrons, illumiknife, intrepidescapist, happyclappyhippydrift, razzledazzlered, letstalkhxh, and officialpeakspider! thank you for your support!!

It didn’t take more than a few rings of the doorbell to rouse Chrollo from his sleep. It never did. Not anymore at least, since this was as regular an occurrence as it could be, all things considered. Chrollo just reached for his light and threw off the covers, grabbing up a sweatshirt before he sprinted to the door, his heart in his throat.

This was a regular thing but that didn’t make it easier.

Chrollo opened the door and shivered as the cool night air washed over him, along with the unhappy cries of a scared animal. “Yes?” he greeted, already looking at the small bundle the neighbor held in his arms. The poor thing sounded so scared.

“Got another one for you,” the man sighed, looking as uncomfortable as Chrollo did. He shifted on his feet, his boots caked in dirt and wet with what Chrollo knew not to be rain. “That damn ewe. She just keeps on rejecting them. How many has it been now? At least-”

“It’s been three,” Chrollo interrupted, already reaching for the now-motherless lamb. He smiled just a little when the small thing settled the moment it nuzzled his chest, shaking a little in his arms. “You really should stop breeding her. If this is becoming a habit with her, you shouldn’t invite it.” The lambs didn’t deserve it. They didn’t deserve to be rejected and attacked by their own mother.

The old farmer sighed and lifted a hand to rub the back of his neck. “I’m beginnin’ to see that for myself,” he muttered. “But the damn thing is one of my best stock. If I have to cull her now I’ll be losing money.”

Chrollo had to think risking the health and safety of his lambs would lose him more money in the end. He hadn’t been doing this long enough to consider himself an expert on livestock, but even an idiot could see that repeating the same thing over and over wouldn’t yield him different results. It just left Chrollo with another mouth to feed and another lamb that could potentially die in his arms. As much as he enjoyed the company the small ones brought, he never could get used to the grief they occasionally carried with them.

Clearing his throat, he caught the farmer’s attention. “Did you give this one colostrum yet?” he asked, bouncing on his heels a little to keep the lamb and himself warm. The farmer shifted guiltily. Chrollo sighed, resigning himself to a sleepless night. “Thank you for bringing it to me,” he said instead, wanting to go back inside. “I know you didn’t have to-”

“Don’t even think on it,” the farmer cut in, shaking his head. “Lord knows I’m not doing you any favors by saddling you with these unlucky runts. The wife would never forgive me though if I let ‘em die. I just thank my lucky stars that I’ve got you down the road.”

“I do too.” If he had to think about these little things dying just because he didn’t know about them, he would never forgive himself either. But, he was tired and he could tell he wasn’t the only one. Chrollo smiled, bringing the visit to an end. “Tell Missy I said hello,” he said. “I’ll have to have you two over sometime so you can see them all once harvest settles down.”

The farmer nodded, looping his thumbs through his beltloops. “That sounds like a plan. I’ll let her know and we’ll give you a call once the frost hits.”

Chrollo nodded and bid him goodbye, not bothering to watch his rugged pickup truck shake its way to life and then on down his drive. The lamb in his arms was shaking again, its small mouth cold against his neck. Chrollo closed the door behind him and headed into the kitchen, sighing a little as he flicked on the light and set himself to the routine he now had memorized.

Turn on the heating lamp, nestle the lamb inside to bring its body temperature back up, get the frozen colostrum from the freezer and set to heating it up: Chrollo did it all on autopilot, turning on the coffeepot while he was at it. It was two a.m. but he knew he’d need the caffeine. No colostrum meant the lamb hadn’t even gotten the chance to suckle before the mother rejected it. If it didn’t have some soon, Chrollo knew the poor thing would die before it ever had the chance to enjoy being alive.

While the bottle was warming, Chrollo plopped himself down beside the heating box and took in his newest charge. The lamb was small, even smaller than others its age. Had there been twins? Triplets? Chrollo knew a ewe was likely to reject a runt if it thought the others would have a better chance of surviving with one less lamb to compete with for food. Sighing, Chrollo reached in to stroke down the lamb’s back, lifting up a leg to check the sex. The creature was too weak to even bleat now, but she was strong enough to lip at his fingers when he lowered her leg to pet her head.

“Soon, little one,” he murmured, using the voice he reserved for nights like these. “I’ll get you something good to eat, okay?” He’d need to think of a name for her too. But that could wait, he supposed. At least until he’d slept more. It wouldn’t do to saddle the poor thing with a terrible name just because he was sleep deprived and nonsensical.

The electric thermometer buzzed and the lamb startled, but Chrollo soothed her with a soft coo and got up to turn it off. With the bottle warmed up to the proper temperature, he picked up the colostrum and then the lamb, settling her between his legs so he could hold up her head. “Time to eat,” he whispered, coaxing the nipple of the bottle between the baby’s teeth, massaging her throat to encourage her to drink. “Please take it,” he prayed, holding his breath as she chewed weakly. He really didn’t want to have to get out the syringe. He hated forcing it down their throats, but if she refused, he’d have no choice.

To his relief, the lamb began drinking with only a little more prompting. She took to the bottle eagerly, suckling messily and deeply in a desperate rush to fill her empty belly. Chrollo shushed her and chided her gently when she lost the nipple and got the mixture on her nose, but she was back to drinking in no time, almost as if she were trying her best to make this easier on him. She didn’t really have to, Chrollo thought. He’d do all he could regardless of how difficult she made it. She deserved to grow big and strong as much as any of the others.

“You’re such a sweetheart,” Chrollo sighed, taking the bottle from her when he felt her sides begin to fill out. She protested but he knew she’d had enough. Setting the bottle on the table behind him, Chrollo stroked down her white fleece, meeting her dark eyes with a tired smile. “You’re a real sweetie. Can I call you Sugar?” he asked, using his thumb to wipe up a bit of the stray colostrum from her snout. “Do you like that name?”

Her answer came in the form of a soft tongue, the pink slip sneaking out of her mouth to lap up the milk on his fingers. Chrollo laughed and held her close for a moment, his exhaustion lessening in the wake of her affection. “Sugar it is, then,” he breathed, giving himself a moment to cuddle her before he put her back in the heating box. Her mouth was warm now but he knew it wouldn’t stay that way if he didn’t keep her under a heating lamp for a while longer yet. She stared up at him when he stood, curled up atop the soft blankets he’d used for all of the lambs and goats that made their way to him at all hours of the day and night.

“What is it?” he asked, cocking his head as he looked back at her. “Do you want me to stay with you?” She flicked her ears and yawned. “Let me just get my coffee and I’ll come sit with you, okay?” he offered. They were in for a long night together either way, with her needing fed every few hours and the others needing checked on since he was awake anyway.

Chrollo poured his coffee into his mug and, as tired as he was, he had to laugh. He really must be sleep-deprived if he was already this loopy.

He had his coffee and he had his Sugar. All he needed was a lamb named Cream and he’d be set.


	2. Chapter 2

When Chrollo awoke, it wasn’t to the chirping of birds that sometimes sounded outside his bedroom window, the nest of roosting blue jays treating him to a morning song, or even the dissonant ringing of his alarm clock telling him to get up and face the day. It was to a wet, warm tongue lapping at his cheek and the soft snuffling and sweet breath of a lamb nuzzling his face. Chrollo opened his eyes and looked right into the eyes of his newest charge, Sugar looking far more awake than Chrollo did.

“Is it breakfast time already?” he asked blearily, sitting himself upright to look around his room for the bottle that he then remembered was in the kitchen. Why would it have been in his room? He needed coffee, and a lot of it. Sugar was looking far more energetic now than she had the night before, and as he lifted himself up and pulled on a cardigan, he vaguely remembered how she had cried when he made as if to go to bed. Chrollo looked at her standing on his mattress, the diaper fastened around her tiny hips, and he had to smile. He was such a pushover and she was too cute to say no to, even if it did mean sharing his bed.

Picking her up, Chrollo let out a yawn and carried her back into the kitchen. “We’re going to need to get you a sweater if you’re going to be following me around,” he told her, kissing her ears when she lifted her head to nibble his earring. “It’s too cold still for little ones like you.”

Sugar let out a small noise, chatting with him as he placed her back in the heating box and set himself to cleaning up the mess from the night before and also to getting himself and Sugar some breakfast. A glance out the window told him it was nearly 8, so the other babies would be wanting fed too soon. Sugar busied herself with tugging and yanking the blankets into a nest that suited her best as Chrollo heated up more colostrum and milk, cracking some eggs in a pan for himself while he waited on the thermometer to go off. As tired as he was, he’d had worse wake up calls before. The sky outside looked clear so at least he had that to look forward too.

It took no time to cook and eat his eggs, and by the time he’d just finished, Sugar only begging a little over the top of her crate, the milk was heated and waiting for him to give the lamb her own breakfast. Just as eagerly as the night before, she drank and drank and chased the bottle when he pulled it back, dripping milk down her chin like the messy little baby she was. Chrollo cooed and made fun of her but she didn’t really care, her nose twitching as she sniffed the strange scents in the air.

“Are you ready to meet the others?” Chrollo asked her, setting her down on the floor to let her wander around the kitchen while he dug around in the hall closet for the onesies he kept in a box for new arrivals like her. “I bet they’re excited to meet you. They love new friends.” He had about six others staying with him right now in the small barn. Not the most he’d ever had at once but definitely up there. Sugar would be the smallest of them so he’d have to keep an eye out to make sure she didn’t get trampled or hurt trying to keep up with the others.

He was just about to drag the box out to look at the selection under the hall light when he felt a soft nudge against his thigh. Looking down, he caught sight of Sugar’s soft fuzzy ears as she bumped her head into him again, her forelegs coming up to settle atop his leg. “Did I leave you alone too long?” he asked, scratching her ears with a smile. “You found me all on your own too. What a smart girl.”

Sugar baa’d and turned her attention to the open box, looking like she was considering making a jump to get inside. Chrollo settled her against his side before she could act on it, pulling out a couple of the onesies and sweaters to see which would fit her best. He’d gotten most from secondhand shops and as gifts from the farmers he worked with, but most were for lambs bigger than her.

“What do you think?” he asked, holding out two different onesies for her to sniff and peruse. “Which do you like more?”

One was a soft red with little cherries on it, the other a sky blue with patches of white clouds. Sugar nosed them both, taking stock of the fabric and the scents on them before she sank her small teeth into a cloud and tugged, making her choice. Chrollo played tug of war with her for a moment or two before he gently pulled it from between her teeth. “We should get this off of you first,” he said softly, moving Sugar closer so he could remove the diaper and roll it up for the trashcan. Her stool looked healthy which was an immediate relief. She was a lot stronger than her body let on. The ewe had made a poor decision again in rejecting any of her babies. The other two he’d gotten from her had been just as strong, defying any odds the farmer gave them for surviving their first winters.

“In you go,” Chrollo sighed, pushing the thoughts from his mind. It never did any good ruminating on these sorts of things. For as much as he’d read on sheep and lambs and the reasons behind rejections, he knew deep down that a lot of it couldn’t be explained. Sugar went into her new onesie easily enough, standing still for him to button the clasps near her legs. Her little tail wagged happily and she looked up at him as he stood, eager to be carried again. Chrollo smiled at her, invigorated by her energy.

With her diaper removed and her sweater on, Sugar was all ready to join the others in the barnyard for a while. Chrollo picked her up and carried her out the back door, snagging his gloves and coat as he went and navigating both on while he took her to the small, rustic barn he’d inherited alongside his farmhouse. It needed a new coat of paint and probably a new roof, but it was water-tight and warm in the winter, which was all that mattered in the end. Sugar looked around in awe, bleating noisily to tell him all of her thoughts on all she saw. Chrollo answered her as he moved, opening the door and flicking on the lights.

It was instantaneous; the barn erupted into life, the lambs and goats awake and waiting and now that they knew Chrollo was as well, they let out a stream of bleats and baas and cries, begging for food and freedom and attention. Sugar startled but calmed quickly enough, looking around and returning the sounds she heard echoing around her. Chrollo laughed and headed over to the pens, opening the latches to let the animals out. Sugar went down on the ground once he knew the others had stopped stampeding, letting her smell them and them her as they got acquainted with each other. Honeydew and Cotton were avid in their curiosity, nipping at Sugar’s sweater and her ears, but she didn’t put up with it for long. Before Chrollo could separate them, Sugar was headbutting Honeydew, knocking him off her ear and into Cloudy with a determined baa.

“You don’t put up with bullying, do you?” Chrollo laughed, feeling immensely better about leaving her with the others now. He let the goats climb and the lambs run while he moved towards the feeder racks, dragging them out and lining up the cleaned bottles to be filled. He had to work fast before they caught on to what he was doing lest he be charged by animals. Small as they all were, six of them were more than enough to knock him over if they put their minds to it.

With a speed born of routine and necessity, Chrollo filled the six bottles with the milk he kept in a fridge near the end of the barn. He was just screwing on the last nipple cap when one of the goats, a small doeling he’d named Flan set out the call that it was feeding time. Cursing under his breath, he shoved the bottles in the stand and moved out of the way as they all came running, jostling and fighting over the bottles though there was more than enough for each of them. Tails wagging and mouths furiously chewing on the nipples, Chrollo wiped his brow and watched them all feed, relaxing now that the worst of it was over. After this they could go out and graze in the fields for the day, taking in the sun and getting their exercise while he busied himself with the rest of the chores.

Chrollo watched them feed, nudging one out of the way if it got too bossy or readjusting a bottle if it was knocked out of place. Sugar was off in the pens, sniffing the new scents and skipping around in the hay strewn along the floor. She was going to settle in fine, he thought, pulling Honeydew away from a bottle he’d just stolen from Cloudy. He’d keep an eye on her for the day and see how she fared in the pasture, but he was pretty sure he’d keep her inside with him until she gained some more weight. As much as she didn’t let her size limit her, Chrollo knew she was still far too small to be left out with the others just yet.

He didn’t notice the bottles had all been drained until Cotton butted against his leg, her gentle eyes asking for pets. Chrollo smiled and went down on one knee, letting them all swarm him until he lost balance and fell onto his ass and petted them all. He’d raised most of them since they were only a few hours old and it really showed with how affectionate they all were to him. Chrollo kissed noses and scratched their ears, his exhaustion melting away in light of their love.

“Come on, come on,” he laughed, pushing Honeydew away just enough so that he could stand up. “You guys have better things to be doing right now than kissing me. Go play! It’s a beautiful day out there.” They stared at him but did listen, though he managed to snag one of the other goats before she could wander off, lifting her under his arm to bring her over to the thick sweaters he kept out in the barn for her. Peach had never quite gotten over her first few hours of near starvation. She needed a sweater even now, when the day promised to be warm and her head standing nearly up to his knees. She didn’t sit as patiently as Sugar, but he still managed to wrangle her into her striped sweater before letting her go off and join her friends. With that done, he threw the dirty bottles in the washbasin and scooped up Sugar, carrying her out into the paddock to play.

“Go on,” he whispered to her, setting her down near the crates and logs he’d set out for them to climb. “If they don’t play nice I give you permission to headbutt them.”

She hardly needed his concern. Sugar shot off like a bullet, racing straight into the thick of the others. He hoped she’d be able to climb some of the obstacles. They weren’t too high but he didn’t know how high she could jump just yet. Chrollo rested his gloved hands on his hips and sighed, staring up at the rising sun just visible over the far hill behind his house. The day had just started but here he was, already exhausted.

Perhaps there would be time for a nap later, he thought, dusting his gloves off on his jeans as he headed towards the garden. He had chores to do though, so there was no point in thinking on it now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who even knows where this is going lets just enjoy the cute ride i suppose


	3. Chapter 3

One would think that gardening might become easier with seven eager helpers vying to join him in the dirt and weeds. Chrollo knew though that it was the exact opposite when those seven were small, curious little lambs and goats who felt it more important to eat the produce as oppose to weed it.

“Oh, come on now, Cloudy,” he begged, reaching around to pull the small lamb’s head away from the greenery yet again. “If you eat all of it I’ll have nothing left to sell. You do want to eat in a few weeks, right?”

Cloudy baa’d and stared at him balefully, looking almost betrayed that he wouldn’t let her eat what she wanted to eat. Chrollo barely had time to lift her away before he caught Peach trying to pull the same thing out of the corner of his eye. He was outnumbered and outmaneuvered. What a mess. He’d be lucky to weed a third of the garden before the rest was eaten by half a dozen hungry mouths.

“Don’t you guys have some logs to jump on?” he asked pitifully, dragging Peach away and pushing her off towards the paddock and play things. He didn’t have enough hands to pick them all up at once, no matter how much they all seemed to want to test that fact. Sugar ran up and bounded into his lap, her small head butting against his chest demanding pets. Chrollo groaned and gave up, flopping down against the grass to let them swarm as they pleased. If he were lucky, they’d settle on jumping on him instead of on eating his entire garden.

He grunted when Cotton joined Sugar on his chest, only Cotton weighed twice what Sugar did and hit far harder than she did when he leaped and landed on Chrollo’s stomach. “Oh, god,” he groaned, huffing when they small creatures began to stumble and slide around on his chest, scaling him like their logs and platforms. “I’m dead. You’ve all killed me.” Sugar nuzzled his cheek and gave him kisses to apologize, making it hard to be annoyed.

Chrollo supposed he should take it as a compliment that they all liked him enough to set aside their climbing to bother him while he worked. Sugar curled up on top of his chest, settling in cutely in her little sweater as she surveyed her new home. Her lashes were long and lovely against her white fleece, batting demurely with every blink. She’d grow up to be a stunning ewe, Chrollo mused, stroking down her back gently. It was good she was settling in so well so soon. She deserved a good home. It was Chrollo’s honor to provide her it.

“You know you’re going to have to get off me at some point,” he told her, laughing a little when she looked down on him, unimpressed. “It’s true! I’m going to have to finish my chores eventually, no matter how cute you are and how many kisses you give me.”

Sugar baa’d and turned away, not looking bothered at all by what he said. If she could get her way, Chrollo knew he’d be trapped here for the rest of the day. He sighed and looked up at the blue morning sky, watching the clouds pass overhead slowly. With his hat on, the light stayed out of his eyes, making him want to fall asleep. It’d be a lie to say he’d slept well last night, not with the intermittent feedings Sugar had needed. Maybe just a short nap would be okay. He could always weed the garden after lunch.

Before he knew it, his eyes were falling shut without his permission, sleep washing over him in a dizzying, smothering wave. Sugar was warm on his chest and the sun was warmer against his skin, Peach curling up against his side and Cotton against his thigh to share in the soporific mood.

Just a little nap, he thought slowly, already in sleep’s greedy grasp.

Just a short one…

When he heard the telltale baaing of a lamb in distress, Chrollo sat up so fast that Sugar nearly tumbled off him onto the ground, sleep forgotten in the wake of the fear now choking him. What was it? A wild dog? A broken leg? He knew there were holes from the mole problem he’d had a few months back; Chrollo’s mind filled with the thought of a lamb getting trapped in one and his heart stuttered painfully. The lambs and goats at his side looked up curiously, ears flattened against their heads from shared fear.

He looked for the source of the sound and found it a moment later, his panic morphing into outright glee when he saw the culprit off near the spicket and watering hose. “Honeydew!” he called out with relief, freeing himself from the babies on top of him so he could stand up. After a scare like that, he would be lucky to sleep tonight, let alone now. “Did you get the bucket stuck on your head again?”

Honeydew let out another echoing baa of fear, stumbling around with the small blue bucket over his head as he tried to follow the sound of Chrollo’s voice. Chrollo laughed and jogged over to him, soothing the lamb with some calming strokes down his spine before Chrollo carefully tugged the bucket off his head. “You are such a doofus,” Chrollo teased gently, gathering the big lamb in his arms for a hug. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. I’ve told you before, that’s not a feed bucket.”

The lamb baa’d and nuzzled Chrollo’s cheek, nibbling at Chrollo’s sunhat with dull teeth. Such a troublemaker, Chrollo thought, picking Honeydew up with a muted grunt to carry him back over to the platforms. The others trailed behind him, following him alone like ducklings after their mother, and when he sat Honeydew down onto of a log, the others were quick to rejoin the big lamb, hopping up to play and run. Chrollo wiped the sweat from his brow and smiled down at them all, unable to begrudge them for being such a handful. They were cute and happy and healthy and safe.

There wasn’t much more Chrollo could ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> i dont have anything concrete planned out for this, its literally just a self indulgent thing ill be doing when i need a break from stuff. ive got a lot of little ideas for things but dont expect much of a plot or ships or anything like that. if something comes to me, ill do it, but aside from that its just an excuse for me to use the knowledge ive gained on lambs from researching for my big bang fic. thank you and i hope you enjoy whats yet to come!!


End file.
